A smaller but much more experienced
group of citizen Soldiers successfully
completed Annual Training (AT) at Fort
Indiantown Gap, Pa.

This year’s AT was the first time in recent
memory where members of the 1st Battalion,
113th Infantry; 1st Battalion, 114th Infantry;
2nd Battalion, 102nd Armor; 3rd Battalion,
112th Field Artillery and the 5th Squadron,
117th Cavalry had the opportunity to train with
each other simultaneously.

Many of these units’ members recently
returned from active duty tours in the Sinai,
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Iraq, where some
obtained valuable combat experience and others
new skills and training techniques that they
were able to share with each other.

Even though Soldiers returning from recent
deployments were not required to attend this
year’s AT, Brigade Commander, Col. Frank
Caruso, said that the ones who did come had
the opportunity to do combined training with soldiers of
other units.

“All of our ranges and some of the exercises were open
to more than one battalion. So for instance, if one battalion
was running a range, that range was open and everybody
participated, they just had the responsibility to run it. Some
of the lanes we interchanged, too, ” explained Caruso.

Of those who benefited from the combined training were
13 Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery who were
deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“We’ve
never really experienced being associated with the Infantry firing
mortars,” said the battalion’s Command
Sgt. Mayor Tom Slowenski. “We sent some guys to the
rappel tower who would never have had the opportunity to
do that and the Infantry had it laid on and invited us to come
out and train with them. We haven’t fired cannons in two and
a half years, so just to get out here and do something
different was real good experience.”

Besides the live mortar fire
exercises, the Brigade
trained with various weapons, such as the M-9 pistol,
M-16A4/A2 rifle, M249-SAW, M250, threw hand
grenades, and fired anti-tank AT-4 rockets.

They also had the opportunity to conduct Infantry
maneuver lanes, mounted route reconnaissance
across several wooded miles of FIG terrain, and
conducted counter insurgency weapons training.

Reflecting on all their accomplishments, Caruso
said that this AT helped the Brigade to grow stronger
as redeployed Soldiers brought their real-life
experiences to the training.

“As these units deployed to different locations
they brought a little piece of that (knowledge) back
with them. They’ve used that knowledge to make the
units stronger. We are looking forward to building a
great force and I think this was the first step to
building a solid, energetic, trained force.”